Masculinity can be defined as attributes that are considered to be characteristic of men. The basic definition may seem harmless, but the way in which masculinity is performed can have a negative effect. Media uses masculinity to display its superiority over the genders and patriarchal views. Music videos such as ‘Blurred Lines’, written and recorded by Robin Thicke featuring T.I. and Pharrell Williams, display such aspects of masculinity. It is not blurred but clear to see that in the video Robin Thicke is promoting a masculine role in order to dominate and suppress women and men of color.
Within the lyrics, he states, “Ok now he was close, tried to domesticate you. But you’re an animal, baby it’s in your nature”. This suggests that women are secondary to men, women should remain within the domestic sphere. The domestic sphere is the idea women should stay in jobs that involve the household or very simple tasked jobs. It was also a way to keep women stagnant as their male counterparts were allowed to grow within their field of work. This pushes the agenda that men are superior to women. Judith Lorber brings about this idea of being secondary in her article entitled ‘The Social Construction of Gender’, which states: “In Western society, man is A, woman is not A but B” (Lorber, 99). This idea of being considered secondary to men within the video is exemplified when a woman is shown holding a lamb, we can assume the lamb is a symbol of how women are viewed as being vulnerable. Considering that lambs are baby sheep that make great prey to predators. He shows women can be prey for men or be protected by a ‘real man’. Sexualizing and objectifying women are a big part of the song and video. The video shows the women nearly naked, while the men are fully clothed. Thicke, as a male pop star, has the privilege of not having to strip to sell records. ‘The Social Construction of Gender’ states: “As a part of a stratification system, gender ranks men above women of the same race and class. Women and men could be different, but equal” (Lorber, 98).
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It takes a special type of man to publicly promote behaviors that belittle women and other lower-class men. Robin Thicke is that man. Who also plays a role that is far from reality, perpetuating the notion of a heteronormative idea of attraction. Robin Thicke, T.I., and Pharrell Williams need to maintain boundaries with each other to prevent signs of homoeroticism. Cementing the idea that men should only pursue women. By exemplifying the fact that none of the male performers grope, objectify, or dance with each other. Matthew Barney said: “The masculine mask is worn to achieve a normative performance-oriented phallic heterosexual male sexuality” (Barney, 5). He continued to play the role of a masculine man by standing still in most scenes. In doing so, he conveys that he controls everyone in the video. By having everyone dance around him, Thicke exploits his power over the women while simultaneously degrading lower-class black. Exercising his idea that he, the white man, remains in power. The author of the article entitled ‘Masculinity as Homophobia’, Michael S. Kimmel, stated: “Manhood is equated with power over women and, over other men, everywhere we look. We see the institutional expression of power” (Kimmel, 106). The scene where balloons spelling out “Robin Thicke has a big dick”. His male ego is on display, reminding women that the size of his penis equals the size of his manhood. It also implies to the heteronormative society that having a bigger penis is a sign of possessing more power. The other two male stars in the video, T.I. and Pharrell Williams, are black; Thicke showcases these two men working for the white man. As the two men seductively dance to herd in the women, they do so only to bring them to the main prize, which is Robin Thicke. Using them to do his work, further inserts his dominance in class and race. There are many scenes in which Robin Thicke is centered in the frame, being centered in a frame forces the viewer to make Thicke the center of attraction, as everything else around him is of lesser importance. When he’s not centered, he is positioned in first place on an imaginary podium in other scenes. In one scene, he’s sitting in the middle, a white woman sits to his right a little lower than him, and Pharrell to his left much lower than both Robin and the white woman. This reiterates Judith Lorber’s idea of the white man being number one over the second-class woman, while the black man is placed third in the lowest class.
The media has become a great source to help push on the social view of gender norms and hypermasculinity. Music videos such as ‘Blurred Lines’ continuously perpetuate masculinity to be that of ideas given to us by Judith Lorber, Harry Brod, and Kimmel. Although times are becoming more progressive, the root of masculinity is still heavily displayed within our media. How can we create a change, is it possible that if we were to remove this hypermasculinity from the media if it will even still be desired?
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